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"They won't kill everyone in the ghetto right away," he continued, his voice matter-of-fact. "They still need workers. But not for too long. After all, they have us Poles to work for them, don't they?"He paused then, and looked at me. I was frozen like a Polish winter. I was cold right through into my bones.
"You know, Miriam," Mr. Kraszewski suggested, "you could be one of us."
Award-winning novelist Carol Matas brings readers into the heart of Nazi Germany with the harrowing story of Marisa, a Polish Jew whose blonde hair and blue eyes make it easy for her to pass as a Christian. With the Nazis ready to herd the remaining Jews of her town into a ghetto, and with her family either scattered or dead, Marisa takes the papers of a Polish girl and in that disguise goes to Germany in a desperate attempt to survive as a Polish worker.
After traveling to Weimar, Marisa finds work as a servant for the Reymanns, a wealthy farming family who treat her with dignity and respect. Their daughter Charlotte becomes fond of Marisa and wants to be her friend. Marisa's life with the Reymanns may seem safe, the Reymanns appear fair, but she can never forget that Herr Reymann is a high-ranking Nazi official and Charlotte attends the League of German Maidens. Marisa is hiding in plain sight in her enemy's house.
Carol Matas's unflinching account of Marisa's dilemma as a Jew living a lie in order ot survive will give readers a new perspective on the nature of good and evil even as it touches their hearts.
When German soldiers arrive in Zloczow during World War II, a young Jewish girl must decide whether or not to conceal her identity and work for a Nazi in Germany in order to survive.
Eventually, this blonde, blue-eyed Jew hides her identity in order to survive, working as a slave in the home of a high-ranking Nazi official. There she observes children playing "Jew Out," a game based on symbolic extermination; she sees local teens role-playing hate; she listens as young girls vow to dedicate their bodies to produce many Aryan children. Marissa is constantly torn between fading memories of the importance of love, emphasized by her faith and the insurmountable hate she feels in an environment where children admit: "If there is a God, He's turned his back on us. I'd prefer to think there wasn't one. Otherwise He's far too cruel."
While the setting is distanced from furnaces and gas chambers, horrors are nonetheless present in the hanging of a Polish girl who has sex with a German boy, numerous shootings, and in the graphic skinning of a man who hides Jews in his home. Marissa recognizes the utter randomness of life and death; she grows increasingly aware of stereotyping and mind manipulation-in herself and others. Chilling and compelling, this darkly existential novel travels down yet another path on the map of multi-faceted Holocaust literature, grappling with the paradox of separating individual from ideology. As in Bruno Bettleheim's much anthologized essay, A Victim, readers are left painfully aware that we are all victims.
VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9). 9
Anonymous
Posted November 5, 2007
I thought the book In My Enenmys House was a really great book. I got it from the library and I just had to get it. I was sick all weekend so I read it in a few days. I read alot so I'm used to reading fast. The scariest part in the book was when Marisa was screaming out in Hebrew when she was dreaming and the Nazi family could have cought her.
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Posted December 8, 2004
I am now a junior in high school, but read this book for a book report in freshman history. My teacher, Mrs. K., picked me as the only one to read it, because she thought I would enjoy it most out of her 120 students. It is one of the best books I have EVER read on the Holocaust. This book gives the reader a great visual, and really depicts what life was like during WWII for the Jews. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a great suspense novel!
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Posted October 5, 2004
i love it so much!!i hope that carol matas will make a sequal..ive read it like three times already!!i just love the book
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Posted April 9, 2004
Although I thought that the author wrote this book very well, I think that she could have gone in a bit more depth towards that beginning of the book. For the first, say, four or five chapters, I was not exactly fond of the book, but as the story progressed, I began to really get into the story. The topic of this book was a bit disturbing, but as the author pointed out, rather subtely, you need to remember, so something as horrible as the Holocaust, so that it does not occur ever again. One other suggestion for the author is to make clear what an 'action' was. Overall, this novel was well written, and I really liked the way Marissa's feelings were strongly expressed throughout the story. Excellant work! :-)
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Posted April 8, 2004
I thought this book was really interesting and fun to read. I loved it so much I'm reading it again.
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Posted May 1, 2003
I loved this book, In My Enemy's House. I want to know what happened to Marisa & Shmuel later on in life & if Yehuda & Fanny survived. Did Shmuel & Marisa get married? Please, Carol MAtas write a sequal to Marisa's life!!
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Posted January 19, 2003
In My Enemy's House is one of the best books I have ever read. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes reading about the holocaust. This book shows the life of a girl trying to life in a world she does not understand. It gives a sence of faith to God and having hope when everything around her is being destoyed. She deales with losing her family and the one she loves. This is the best book ever!
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Posted May 22, 2001
Carol Matas writes an insightful journal of a character, and her struggle to fight for her life along with loved ones around her during the time of the holocaust.
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Posted May 29, 2001
Marissa is a blond hair blue eyed girl who could easily pass of for a polish girl, which during the times of the Holocost, was a good idea. Her, her family, and her friends all get split up in this horrible time and she is sent off to Germany where she is to stay and work for one of the head Nazi's. She goes through many tough times living with them in their house and hearing about the horrible things they are doing to all of the Jews. Marisa becomes good friends with Charolotte, the man she is living with daughter, and they share secrets about everything, including how Charlotte is seeing a boy who is in a group who is against Hitler. Marisa helps her get through her tough times when her father finds this out. Eventually Marisa is sent off to a factory to work and thinks that she will never see Charolotte again, but they do. I think this was a terrific story and it also teaches you about how times were for the Jews.
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Posted January 24, 2001
It was amazing and inspiring.Extremly exciting. it is about a girl that is a jew. Her Parents and most of her family are taken away so she and a brother, sister, and boyfrind you can say enter an inspiring adveture. Later finding herself in her worst enemies house.
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Overview
Award-winning novelist Carol ...